Thinaah lays claim on Uber Cup spot after Iran win

ALOR SETAR: Women’s singles shuttler M. Thinaah showed she should be considered for the Uber Cup Finals after winning the Iran International Challenge.

The 20-year-old was not selected for the ongoing Asia Team Championships because of her low ranking. She is only ranked seventh out of eight national shuttlers in the team.

But Thinaah didn’t let that bother her as she came out firing to beat teammate and world No. 47 Lee Ying Ying 11-8, 11-6, 9-11, 11-9 in the final in Teheran on Thursday.

It is the Selangor-born Thinaah’s first international title and her second breakthrough, following her triumph in the National Championships last year.

National women’s singles head coach Datuk Tey Seu Bock was pleased as punch to see Thinaah step up.

“It was nice to have an all-Malaysian final in Iran and I’m happy that Thinaah won,” said Seu Bock.

“I’m not really surprised that she came through to beat a higher-ranked Ying Ying.

“While Ying Ying is good, she sometimes struggles against her teammates, so it’s something for her to learn too.

Besides Thinaah, the others with a chance to fight for the four singles spots for the Thomas Cup Finals in Bangkok, Thailand, from May 20-27 are Soniia Cheah (No. 27), Goh Jin Wei (No. 30), Ho Yen Mei (No. 61), S. Kisona (No. 82), Lim Yin Fun (No. 93) and Lee Zii Yii.

RESULTS

Final

Men’s singles: Pham Cao Cuong (Vie) bt Nguyen Tien Minh (Vie) 15-14, 13-11, 11-13, 11-7.

Men’s doubles: Francis Alwin-K. Nandagopal (Ind) bt Kona TarunSaurabh Sharma (Ind) 9-11, 11-6, 7-11, 11-8, 11-9.

Women’s singles: M. Thinaah (Mas) bt Lee Ying Ying (Mas) 11-8, 11-6, 9-11, 11-9.

Women’s doubles: Setayesh Abdolkarimi-Hamedanchi Azad Hale (Iri) bt Samin Abedkhojasteh-Hediyeh Shams (Iri) 11-3, 11-9, 11-5.